Over the past few months I was discussing with a local business their needs for a photoshoot of a 'product' they are wanting to market. Not to get into details (not important), but when I sent the client the first estimate, I didn't hear from them again. I was told that they wanted to wait on it until the product came in and they would contact me later.
Ever hear this before?
Well, I was contacted the other day and was told that they had hired a "FREE" photographer.
Ever hear this before?
As a devil's advocate, I can't blame the client for trying. Being a business person myself, I understand that when budgets are tight we make decisions to cut corners where we think we can. There are tons of examples of decisions we make every day. We make the decision so we can maintain expenses in other areas that we feel are needed. Photography, unfortunately, is often perceived as one of these areas that many people feel 'anybody can do.'
And sometimes they are proven right. In the days of film, a person that didn't know even basic techniques could screw up a shoot very easily making it a risk that a company could not take. With today's advances in camera technology it is getting pretty hard for a person to NOT expose a frame properly, and even if they did, they could most likely 'photoshop' it. They could essentially point a camera in a direction, set the camera to "P" and will have an immediate result with the push of one button.
ALL photographers are going through this situation at ALL levels.
Check that!
ALL people and ALL businesses are going through this situation at ALL levels, but in the end quality will always be what separates a person buying a cheap watch instead of an expensive watch. They both tell time right? "It's just a picture."
But when it comes to the quality of an advertising photo of a product a client wants to sell, why on earth would they go cheap on this?
The one thing that separates the client from the consumer is the communication of the product.
Unfortunately for the client (fortunately for me) the results the client got back from the "FREE" shoot was way below standards. They then made the decision to come back to me with a clearer mind and understanding that "Not just anybody can do it."
They learned from their mistake early. All they wasted was time and realized before moving forward that if they would have used the images for their marketing, then the possible loss of money (from future sales) would be worse. Many other businesses mke worse mistakes by using substandard imagery and won't see their mistake until after the sales decline.
This state of the industry is worrisome to many photographers. For me, I am not worried. I keep the faith and continue to push my quality photography services (product) as something very worth the investment.
I still have the best job EVER!!!
There is a quote from Ansel Adams that always comes to mind, "The most important part of the camera is the 12 inches behind it."
